Irregular periods

[wp22]

I have had endo for nearly 6 years and my periods are now irregular. Normally I had them every 26 days and was spot on but since I have had this they can be 23, 25 28. This one is, upto now day 29 and no sign. Do other ladies have this irregular pattern with endo and I also have 3 fibroids ? X

[Impatient]

yes indeed.

When I started and throughout my teens is was 1 week on 1 off 1 on 1 off.

Saw the Doc, he said it was normal and gave me norethisterone for exam times and holidays when I needed a longer break from bleeding.

Then in my 20's settled to 28 days regular. Painful and often heavy but pretty much clockwork give or take a day. Life could be planned around the dates.

Then in my 30's after a different op, they went utterly haywire and remained anything from 14 days to 40 days inbetween and even if I knew when I was ovulating which was always painful, it didn't seem to have any pattern linking it to when my period woould actually start, and as the years went by the length of the bleed got longer and longer.

So I never had any idea from one day to the next when I would be on, except I did notice as time went on, I would have 1 really ratty angry moody day right before starting which gave me 1 day's notice.

When I was 40 I got tranexamic acid to try and stop them going on and on.

sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.

I had tests and scans for suspected fibroids - nothing at all showed up. Certainly not the stage 4 endo and everything stuck to everything else with adhesions too that would be discoved three years later in surgery.

I should have taken BC pills long before but didn't, partly because I genuinely didn't realise they could be taken back to back to stop periods. I am that old that any girls at school on BC pills in my day were called rather unpleasant names and got a bit more than bad reputation. Times have changed a lot, there isn't nearly the scandal associated with stopping one's periods nowadays for an easier life. I thoroughly recommend all girls should have a life as much as poss and stop their periods if they can. I wish to goodness I had had the mirena in decades ago. It would have held back the endo and the pains and I am sure I could have done so much more in my career when i had it, than I can manage to cope with now the disease is rampant.

It's so annoying not knowing what day to expect to be on and not being able to plan anything, so if you are having irregulars then I would suggest trying either to have an implant to stop them or at least taking BC pills (menstrual controllers) to try and make sure you are in charge of the dates when you come on.

Have a word with your local family planning clinic about the various options available to get your periods back under control. Or your GP,

[Hidden]

Hello

I have Endo but i have always had irregular periods. About ten years ago I was also diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

I was told that this was a common syndrome and often found along side Endo. I have been lucky to have had three children with assistance.

Best wishes

Barbara

[Cloudyrain]

I have PCOS so cycles can range from 10 days to 100 days! However, my consultant advised me that its "normal" for periods to vary by 3 to 5 days from one month to the next, but anything over 10 days from one cycle to the next can be a sign of a hormonal cause. Hope that makes sense!

Oh, and as you age your cycles change every few years, even in people with no problems at all x

[wp22]

Thank you ladies for your replies,

I have just thought (doh) I have been taking progesterone capsules for nearly two months. Do you think this will have an impact on my cycle?

I am going to stop using them and see how things go because I have my lap to remove fibroids and rest of endo (hopefully) at the end of May and want my cycle to get back to "as normal as possible". x